i understand the criticisms on this that "lol butts the beats are old". i do the same thing to lots of other records. but in this situation, they totally aren't. adrian younge is a real scholar of hip-hop production, apparent by his crazy combination of rza worship, dilla/ black milk drums, motown soul, premo style cuts, and using ennio morricone / spaghetti western influences as a binding agent. the beats are really incredible for heads and casual rap fans alike imo.

if you want to hear some pretty derivative 90s stuff, check out anything the alchemist has ever touched. or even (as a microcosm) doppelgangaz / czarface... albeit those were dece this year (not horrible by any means)